Foley is pleased to announce that Nancy J. Sennett has been named a 2011 Woman of Influence by The Milwaukee Business Journal. Each year, the Women of Influence awards recognize exceptional Milwaukee-area women who are leaders in their fields. Ms. Sennett was recognized in the Women of Influence Corporate Executive award category, which focuses on female executives who have been influential in their organizations.
Throughout her 32-year career at Foley, Ms. Sennett has made lasting contributions to the firm in numerous prominent leadership roles. She has been successively the founder and first chair of the firm’s Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice, the first woman member of the firm’s Management Committee, chair of the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee in 2000, and the first woman Managing Partner of Foley’s Milwaukee office. A hallmark of Ms. Sennett’s organizational influence has been her ability to engage individuals at all levels and in all offices nationwide, not only in her leadership positions but through such activities as lawyer recruiting and mentoring.
As chair of the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee, Ms. Sennett worked with committee members and consultants to develop and formalize the practice development and business operation plan for the firm. That plan has helped Foley grow to one of the 25 largest firms in the country and, according to the authoritative annual “Book of Lists” prepared by the Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, the largest Milwaukee-area law firm and one of the 20 largest Milwaukee-area private companies.
During her nine-year term as Office Managing Partner, Ms. Sennett was responsible for overseeing the office’s financial performance, client relationships, and real estate and other infrastructure. She was charged with creating a positive and collaborative working environment for more than 600 lawyers, office staff and national staff, and for identifying opportunities in which the office could engage with the community. These examples illustrate the office’s recent accomplishments under her leadership:
- In both 2010 and 2009, the Milwaukee Business Journal named Foley a “Top Milwaukee Workplace.”
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel designated the office as one of the “Top Workplaces in Southeastern Wisconsin” in 2010.
- The Milwaukee office was selected as the winner of the 2010 Milwaukee Bar Association Pro Bono Publico award, a prestigious honor that demonstrate a strong commitment to generously giving time and talent in support of pro bono services.
Despite her many management responsibilities, Ms. Sennett has maintained a full legal practice as a highly respected commercial and securities litigator. Her practice focuses on the representation of corporations, boards of directors, broker-dealers, investment advisers, law firms and individuals in private securities litigation, including shareholder class actions and derivative lawsuits, Securities & Exchange Commission enforcement actions and self-regulatory organization proceedings. Her professional excellence has been such that her peers have annually selected her for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® as a commercial litigator (2006 to current), in Chambers USA® as a leading Wisconsin litigator (2002 to current) and in the Law & Politics publication Wisconsin Super Lawyers® (2005 to current) for her securities litigation work.
While her professional accomplishments are considerable, Ms. Sennett’s true achievement is that her progression through the firm’s leadership ranks on the strength of her dedication, abilities, team-building and professional skills epitomizes her as a role model for women in the workplace. We sincerely congratulate her for being selected as a 2011 Woman of Influence.
